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PROCEEDINGS OF THE SENATE 



OBITUARY ADDRESSES 



OCCASION OF THE DEATH 



HON. CHAS. H. PAULSON, 

A SENATOR FROM THE FORTV-FOURTH DISTRICT 



PEIS^NSYLYANIA. 

h 



HARRISBURG, PA. 

LANE S. HART, STATE PRINTER. 
I881. 



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7 



RESOLUTION. 



JW live cTen/atej trct>. 3, '(ooj. 

Resolved, (If the House of Representatives concur,) That there be printed 
for the use of the Legislature, bound in muslin, the following, viz : One thou- 
sand copies of the proceedings in the Senate and obituary addresses relating 
to the death of Charles H. Paulson, late Senator from the Forty-fourth dis- 
trict; one thousand copies of the proceedings in the Senate and obituary ad- 
dresses relating to the death of William Elliott, late Senator from the Sixth 
district; and one thousand copies of the proceedings in the Senate and obituary 
addresses relating to the death of George Duggan Jackson, late Senator from 
the Twenty-fourth district; five hundred copies of each for the use of the Sen- 
ate, and five hundred copies of each for the use of the House of Represent- 
atives. 

Extract from the Journal of the Senate. 

Chief Clerk. 

In the House, February 4, 1881. 
The foregoing resolution concurred in. 

Chief Clerk House of Refreseiitatives. 
Approved — The 28th day of February, A. D. 1881. 

c7(cc^v^u cmiC. tJVtoiit. 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE SENATE 

ON IHE UKAIH OF 

Hon. Charles H. Paulson. 

In the Senate, 
Wednesday, January 1'2^ 1881. 

Mr. Newmyer. I ask unanimous consent to offer the 
following resolution. 

The resolution was read, as follows : 

Whereas, The Senate has learned with deep regret 
of the death of Charles H. Paulson, Senator from 
the Forty-fourth district: 

Resolved, That in the death of Senator Paulson the 
Senate has lost a faithful member, and his associates a 
genial companion and friend. 

JResolmd, That we sincerely sympathize wirli the 
family of the deceased, in their sad bereavement, and 
extend to them our heartfelt condolence. 

Rcsohted, That a copy of these proceedings, care- 
fully engrossed and duly attested, be sent to the family 
of the deceased. 

Mr. Newmyer. Mr. President. I offer these resolu- 
tions at the time for the purpose simply of giving 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE SENATE. 



notice, and I wish further to state that I will call them 
up for final action at the earliest x^ractical moment, if 
possible to-moiTow afternoon, after the counting of the 
vote. 

The resolutions were laid upon the table. 




HON. CHARLES H. PAULSON. 



OBITUARY ADDRESSES. 



In the Senate, 
Tuesday, January 18, 1881. 

Mr. Newmyer. I call for the second reading of the 
resolutions offered by me last week relative to the death 
of Senator Paulson. 

The resolutions were read the second time, as follows : 

HesoUed, That in the death of Senator Paulson the 
Senate has lost a faithful member, and his associates a 
genial companion and friend. 

Resolved., That we sincerely sympathize with the 
family of the deceased, in their sad bereavement, and 
extend to them our heartfelt condolence. 

Resolved, That a copy of these proceedings, care- 
fully engrossed and duly attested, be sent to the family 
of the deceased. 

Mr. Newmyer. Mr. President, in moving these reso- 
lutions, it is not my purpose, nor do I feel competent, 
to speak at any length on the life and character of the 
late Senator Paulson. Although my acquaintance 
with him, perhaps, covers a longer period of time, yet 
owing to the difference in age and politics, I did not 
know him so intimately as did many members of this 
body. Those who have served with him in the Senate 



OB ITU A li Y A DDRESSES. 



and have consequently l)een l)r()ug"lit into closer con- 
tact and relations with him, are better fitted to speak 
of those traits and characteristics whicli won for him 
the esteem and regnrd of his fellow members. Still, 
Mr. President, I feel it to be my duty to say, and I be- 
lieve that my personal knowledge and acquaintance 
with the deceased warrant me in so doing, that he was 
a man of genial, generous, and kindly impulses, polite 
jtnd obliging to all those with whom he came in contact, 
and ever ready when opj)ortunity offered, or when in 
his power, to serve a friend. He came to Alleghenj^ 
county about the year 1834, and continued to reside 
there until his death. For almost half a century he 
was actively engaged in business enterprises, and was 
prominently identified with tlie business, growth, and 
X)rosperity of the city of Pittsburgh. His acquaintance 
with business men and with the public generally, Avas 
large and extensive, and he was well known as one of 
our oldest business men. The last illness of Mr. Paul- 
son was of short duration. Less than a week before 
his death he was at his place of business, apparently 
in his usual general health. Not feeling entirely well, 
he went to his home, and on the 20tli of April, 1880, 
the summons came, and the mortal career of Charles 
H. Paulson ended. He passed quietly and peacefully 
away in the faith in which he had lived, and was not 
unprepared for the great and awful change. His death 
is a sad and sore loss to the family of which he was 



HON. CHARLES H. PAULSON. 



the head, and to the church of which he was a mem- 
ber, and to the large circle of friends and acquaint- 
ances by whom he was universally held in high regard 
and esteem. He has met the common fate of all, and 
as one by one our companions and associates drop by 
our side, we are reminded and realize that — 

"Time is fleeting, 
And our hearts, though stout and brave, 
Still like muffled drums are beating 
Funeral marches to the grave." 

Mr. Nelson. Mr. President, I am in favor of the 
resolution of the Senator from the Forty-fourth dis- 
trict. I feel it to be my duty, and esteem it a privi- 
lege, to add my testimony to what has been so well 
said by others in favor of our deceased member. Sen- 
ator Paulson. 

Our acquaintance and friendship began two years 
ago, when we hrst met as strangers and together took 
the oath of office, and I took my seat at his left in 
this Senate chamber. My recollection is that we in- 
troduced ourselves by a friendly remark from him to 
the effect that, "geographically speaking, we were 
about as wide apart as the lines of the Commonwealth 
would allow, but pretty close to each other here.'' 

It did not take me long to learn that I sat by the 
side of a very excellent and companionable member. 
Such I found the Senator from the Forty-fourth dis- 
trict to be. And now, when I return to my seat and 



10 OBIT UA RY A DDREiiSES. 

find his place made vacant by death, I must express 
my sorrow and submission to the will of Him in whose 
hands are the issues oi: life and of death. 

As the session wore on, our intimacy and friendship 
increased, and when we shook hands and parted at its 
close, I little dreamed I would see his face no more, 
and that he would not meet with us again — much sooner 
would I thought of being the absent one myself ; but 
so mysterious and incomj)rehensible are the ways of 
God with men — one is taken and another left. He was 
taken, while we are spared for further duty to our 
constituents, as well as for all the duties of business 
and social life. 

Senator Pauj.sojst was a faithful, honest and honored 
public servant. Conscientious and careful in the dis- 
charge of all his ]3ublic duties. As such, his death is 
to be deplored, both by his constituents and the Com- 
monwealth. He was no man to compromise with evil. 
His sympathy and influence was always to be found 
on the right side. Always careful as to what he said 
of his fellow members and jealous of their good name. 
I never heard him speak evil of any one. 

I feel it my duty also to speak of his excellent moral 
and Christian character. This always excited my ad- 
miration, and challenged my respect. He was a firm 
believer in the power and truth of Christianity,^ and 
"showed his faith by his works." Adorning the doc- 
trines of God, his Saviour, by a well-ordered life and 



HON. CHARLES H. PAULSON. 11 



godly conversation — of his last hours I am unable to 
speak, but such a life could not fail to end well and 
have its reward. I have no doubt but that the cham- 
ber where this good man met his fate , 

"Was privileged above tlie common walks of virtuous life, 
Quite on the verge of heaven." 

He rests from his labors and his works do follow 
him. His influence is not lost, but must live on for- 
ever. 

And now, brother Senators, the lessons of the past 
year are full of interest and profit to us. I repeat 
them in our hearing to-day — Senator PAULSOisr, of the 
Forty-fourth district, gone! Senator Elliott, of the 
Sixth district, gone ! Senator Jackson, of the Twenty- 
fourth district, gone ! Their voices will never be heard 
in this chamber again, and yet there is a sense in which 
they speak to us in tones which cannot be misunder- 
stood. Hear what they say : ''Be ye also ready." Let 
us try to make a wise improvement of the dispensations 
of Him who controls the destiny of men and nations. 
May He who has declared in His Word, His right and 
prerogative is to "teach his Senators wisdom," "So 
teach us to number our days that we- may apjoly our 
hearts unto wisdom." Then, when it is our turn to 
take our places in the silent chambers of death, we 
"go not like the quarry-slave, at night, scourged to 
his dungeon," but, sustained by an unfaltering trust 
in God, approach our grave like one "who wraps the 



, OB ITU AH Y ADDRESSES. 



drapery of liis coucli about him and lies down to 
pleasant dreams." 

Mr. Hall. Mr. President, recent as was my ac- 
quaintance with Senator Paulson, and brief as was 
our intercourse, our relations were so cordial that his 
death touched me as the striking down of a near 
friend. I had not known him before w^e met in this 
chamber, two years ago. I never saw him after our 
adjournment. I did see, on the day of his funeral, 
the body which he had once inhabited, but the soul — 
the man we loved — had departed. 

There are some men, Mr. President, whose presence, 
like the sunshine, cheers and enlivens all around them. 
Whatever be our mood, we feel the better for their 
coming. Such a man was Senator Paulson. He came 
here in 1879 almost a total stranger, yet in the course 
of the session his kindly manners, his cordial greet- 
ings, his genial humor, and his sterling good sense, 
made him one of the best known and most esteemed 
Senators of the body, I was gratilied, sir, but not 
surprised to find at his funeral abundant evidence that 
the qualities which had made him so poi)ular here had 
at his home endeared him to a very large circle of 
friends, and that those were i3eople whose friendship 
was in itself a tribute to his worth. 

As a Senator, he was a worker — not a talker. He 
brought to the j^erformance of his official duties a ripe 
business experience, a matured judgment, and a just 



HON. CHARLES H. PA ULSON. 



sense" of liis official obligations. The comino- of such 
men into a legislative body gives strength and tone to 
it, as an infusion of healthy blood gives strength and 
tone to the physical body. They may not be brilliant, 
but they are safe ; and while such men control the 
destinies of the Commonwealth, no one will doubt our 
continued welfare. 

It is said that one of Solon's laws, for the govern- 
ment of Athens, commanded that nothing but good 
should be spoken of the dead. The princiiDle of that 
law was afterward embodied in a familiar Roman 
maxim. The sentiment savors, perha^DS, somewhat of 
superstition. It has been criticised. Dr. Johnson said 
that it ought to be amended so as to command that 
nothing but truth should be spoken of the dead. It 
must be very gratifying to the family of Senator Paul- 
son" to know that such an amendment in his case would 
give no occasion for the sliglitest blush on their part. 
After a long and honorable career the truth would be 
his highest eulogy. 

Mr. Here. Mr. President, death is a very common 
fact in this world, as we know its reign is universal. 
There has been no favored clime yet discovered where 
its dark ensign does not wave ; no territory where its 
cold scepter does not rule. The fabled waters of the 
fountain of perpetual youth flow only over the golden 
sands of the bright world of imagination. That is the 
dream of the poet. Death is certain ; death is inevit- 



14 OBITUAR Y A DDBESSES, 

able. The sorcery of beauty cannot bewitch it ; silver 
and gold and gems and precious stones cannot bribe it. 
It is implacable ; grim and stony as a statue ; but im- 
partial. The pride of place, the trappings of royalty, 
the wisdom of learning, the innocence of childhood, 
plead in vain against the stroke, for it falls on all alike. 
Without remorse it trips tottering age and outstrips 
the fleetness of youth, xind so it comes to pass that 
in every household there is a vacant chair, and at every 
step we stumble over graves. 

"There is a sorrow in every song; 
There is a winter in every year." 

And, Mr. President, this body possesses no talisman 
against its inroads, for do we not now this day stand 
around the bier of one of our dead friends to embalm, 
if possible, his memory in words of gracious kindness. 
His private life is a matter sacred to his family, and a 
stranger dare not intermeddle therewith. Yet his offi- 
cial career, as we know it, invites our generous judg- 
ment. On that we may pronounce an opinion without 
being presumptuous, and, as has well been said, the 
respect which was so cheerfully accorded to him soon 
ripened into cheerful esteem, when we recognized, ob- 
served, and admired his upright, his Christian deport- 
ment, as he passed in and out among us. His genial 
disposition, his stern love of truth, his adherence to 
fact, his determination to do his duty, as he understood 
it, are traits of character that commend themselves to 



HON. CHARLES H. PAULSON. 13 

each and all of us as worthy of emulation. If he was 
firm in his political and religious principles, he had the 
courage to live up to them ; but always with the mod- 
esty and moderation of a man who did not seek sup- 
port from the applause of others, but who rested 
calmly secure upon his own native strength, as upon a 
rock. These, as has been said, are a kind of good 
deeds, and therefore we should recount and dwell upon 
them with affectionate remembrance, not only in justice 
to the dead, but for the sake of the living whom he 
has left behind, because one 

"Good deed dying unheralded 
Slaughters a thousand waiting on it." 

He died, Mr. President, at his post of duty, with his 
armor on. Tlie commission with which the confidence 
of his constituents had invested him, still clothed him 
with authority and responsibility ; so that he died at 
his post of duty ; and surely men of all ages and of all 
climes at all times delight to accord to such their due 
meed of praise. When the Roman sentinel stood fast 
at the gates of Pompeii, and the blinding smoke and 
scorching lava smote tlie doomed city, he won renown 
and immortality, and now stands in the gallery of the 
ages a central figure of one who died at his post of 
duty. And a hundred years ago, thereabout, when 
dense darkness fell over some sections of this country, 
and men feared that the judgment day had come, a 
motion was made in the Legislature to adjourn, but 



16 OBIT UA RY A D DRESSES. 

one brave spirit rose and opposed it, saying tliat if the 
last 'day had come he wonld rather be fonnd at his 
post, doing his duty, than to be caught fleeing like a 
coward. 

Mr. President, it is the example of such a character 
of devotion to a sense of duty that redeems this age 
and inspires the public man. And it is this high sense 
of duty that trumpets every action of our dead departed 
friend. Why, the burdens of responsibility, the man- 
ifold exactions upon him, as you all experience, the 
stress and strain upon his mental and physical facul- 
ties, might have been discarded and avoided by him, 
if he had sought the gratification of his selfishness in 
ease and repose. And perhaps the germ of disease 
that finally terminated his life w^as contracted in the 
discharge and fulfillment of his public duties. And 
yet he faltered not, but stood at his post until the fin- 
ger of death turned the senatorial toga into a shroud, 
and thus conferred the distinction which marked him 
as the wearer of the great renown, that he died at his 
post of duty. No doubt, Mr. President, that he, like 
many others in common with himself, when he came 
l)efore the people, had to pass through an ordeal of 
adverse criticism, vituperation, and perhajDS denuncia- 
tion, for in these days no sooner does a man become a 
candidate for official position than the arsenal of 
calumny is ransacked for the most poisonous arrow to 
wound if not to destro}", and he, perhaps, did not escape 



HON. CHARLES H. PA ULSON. 17 

that ordeal. And the teniptations that beset, choke 
up and bar the path of the public man we, perhaps,' can 
form some estimate of, but those temptations resisted 
by him under the impulse of a high religious sense of 
duty did not come only, perhaps, in the base forms of 
solicitation to his cupidity or avarice, because these 
can be swept aside with scornful indignation and con- 
tempt, but they may have come to him as they have 
come to others, in the more j)leasant form of appeals 
to aspiring ambition. And yet, Mr. President, I ap- 
peal to those here who knew him, whether in all his 
official career a taint of suspicion even, ever rested upon 
the integrity of his character. He pursued the straight 
line of rectitude, and whatever may have been heralded 
abroad against him, as may have been heralded against 
others, he lived it down and left a memory that is 
sweet and enlightens and cheers even, as the Senator 
from Elk [Mr. Hall] declared, the sun brightens and 
cheers all that it touches. 

Now, then, Mr. President, what remains for us ? 
Can we do better, or j)ay a higher compliment, or em- 
body our sincere respect for his memory, than to apply 
to him the last words of one of England's purest and 
noblest worthies, Andrew Marvel, who said : "I have 
done my duty as best I could, and I thank God for it." 
And so, Mr. President, carrying out the thought sug- 
gested by the Senator from Allegheny, [Mr. Newmyer :] 



18 OBITUA BY A DD BESSES'. 

"Lives of great men all reiniud us 
We can make our live sublime, 
And departing leave behind us 
Footprints in the sands of time ; 

Footprints that perhaps another, 

Sailing o'er life's solemn main, 
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, 

Seeing, shall take heart again." 

From his example and from our knowledge of liis 
character we may, in the discharge of our public, as 
well as private duties, take heart and learn to labor 
and to wait for the general benediction that shall rest 
upon all who try manfully and conscientiously to do 
their duty to their constituents and to discharge their 
official trust with integrity. 

Mr. HoLBEN. Mr. President, if it were not for the 
fact that I always esteemed Chaeles H. Paulson^ as a 
high-minded and honest gentleman, I should remain 
silent. I had at first intended to say nothing, but 
through my admiration for him while living, and re- 
spect for his memory while dead, I feel constrained to 
add my tribute of high esteem to the memory of the 
deceased. 

His death I consider a loss to the Senate, although 
his place is filled by a man of ability and high stand- 
ing. I can speak only of him whilst he was a member 
of this body. My first acquaintance with him was in 
January of 1879. I very soon formed an intimate ac- 
quaintance with him. I served with him during the 



HON. CHARLES H. PAULSON. 19 

important and protracted session of 1879. Those who 
survive him can testify to his attentiveness and indus- 
try. My intercourse with him was exceedingly amiable 
and agreeable. 

He was cheerful and sociable, always ready to lend 
an aiding hand. His disposition was remarkably kind. 
And if he had any fault, it was a surplus of kindness. 
This disposition was inborn ; the Almighty so created 
him. 

During my intercourse with him he exhibited malice 
against none. It always seemed to me that it was a 
pleasure for him to help and serve his friends. Such 
a man w^ould necessarily be respected by friend and 
foe. 

The deceased, though not without his faults and im- 
perfections, was one of the best citizens of this Com- 
monwealth. He was sober, intelligent, honest, and in- 
dustrious ; and I think I will be confirmed in saying 
that his general conduct and behavior in this body 
were not excelled by that of any of his associates. 

We who served with him know that he was very in- 
dustrious, although he did not participate very often 
in the heated discussions of the session of 1879, I know 
of my own knowledge that he always was prepared and 
ready to act intelligently on any question that was 
raised. 

Although anxious to accommodate and favor his 
friends and their measures, yet he carried out his own 



OBITUARY ADDRESSES. 



convictions. Of the many hundred bills that came be- 
fore the Senate, all were read and carefully considered 
by him. 

He was one of the quiet workers of this body ; and 
my experience in legislative matters has taught me 
that such men are the most efficient law-makers. 

He never lost sight of his constituents, always having 
their interests in view. Though I think he invariably 
acted conscientiously and independently. 

In the death of Chaeles H. Paulson we have lost 
a friend and valuable member of this body. I shall, as 
long as I may live, hold in grateful remembrance the 
pleasant memories of our friendly relation. 

The question being. 

Will the Senate agree to the resolution % 

The yeas and nays were required by Mr. Lawrence 
and Mr. Newmyer, and were as follow, viz : 

Yeas — Messrs. Alexander, Arnholt, Beidelman, 
Boggs, Cochran, Cooper, Craig, Davies, Emery, Ever 
hart, Gordon, Grady, Greer, Grof, Hall, Hereter, Herr, 
Holben, Jones, Kauffman, Keefer, Lantz, Laird, Law- 
rence, Lee, McCracken, McHenry, McKnight, McNeill, 
Mylin, Nelson, Newmyer, Norris, Parker, Reyburn, 
Roberts, Ross, Royer, Schnatterly, Seamans, Shearer, 
Sill, Smiley, Smith, Stewart, Thomas, Upperman, Wol- 
verton, and Newell, President pro tern. — 49. 

Nays — ^None. 

So the question was determined in the affirmative. 



HON. CHARLES H. PAULSON. 21 

The preamble was read as follows : 
Whereas, The Senate has learned with deep regret 
of the death of Charles H. Paulson, Senator from 
the Forty-fourth district. 
The question being, 
Will the Senate agree to the preamble ? 

It was agreed to. 
Mr. Newmyer. Mr. President, I move that out of 
respect to the memory of the late Senator Paulson, 
that the Senate do now adjourn. 
The question being. 
Will the Senate agree to the motion ? 

It was agreed to. 
Whereupon the President p7'o tern, adjourned the 
Senate until this afternoon at three o'clock. 



WAR26 1907 



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